According to a pedaling system of a conventional bicycle, as a rider pedals forward, a driving sprocket of a pedal shaft rotates forward, and the forward rotation of the driving sprocket is transmitted to a driven sprocket connected to the driving sprocket by a chain. As a result, the driven sprocket also rotates forward and a rear wheel rotates forward, thereby driving the bicycle forward.
When the rider pedals rearward, the driving sprocket rotates rearward, so that the driven sprocket also rotates rearward. Since a one-directional clutch is connected to the driven sprocket, a bobbin of a rear shaft runs idle, as that a driving force is not transmitted to the rear wheel. Thus, the driving force of the bicycle is lost.
The above conventional bicycle can travel forward only by pedaling forward, and it is impossible to drive the bicycle forward by pedaling rearward.
A bi-directional pedaling apparatus for a bicycle which is capable of traveling forward by pedaling rearward is disclosed in Korea Patent Publication No. 95-13589 by the present applicant.
In the bi-directional pedaling apparatus, a driving sprocket is fixed to a pedal shaft by an one-directional clutch bearing, and a series of gears are differently engaged by selective operation of an operation lever located at a handle of the bicycle.
The gears include idle gears rotatably installed in a carrier, a gear wheel and a transfer wheel which are engaged each other. The gear wheel is connected to a driving sprocket to be detachable therefrom, and the transfer wheel is connected to a one-directional clutch bearing or a pedal shaft to be detachable therefrom. Forward pedaling of the pedal shaft is directly transmitted to the driving sprocket via the one-directional clutch bearing, and rearward pedaling of the pedal shaft is changed forward in the gear wheel via the transfer wheel and the idle gears so that forward driving is transmitted to the driving sprocket.
The operation lever is connected to the series of the gears including the transfer wheel, idle gears and gear wheel by a wire, so that the idle gears and the transfer wheel are engaged each other. The engagement between the idle gears and the transfer wheel by the operation of the operation lever is not smooth. Also, since the operation lever is operated by pulling force, it is not easy to operate the operation lever. In addition, when pulling backward the bicycle while setting the bicycle to the bi-directional pedaling system, the bicycle cannot be pulled due to the engagement of the internal gears without rotation thereof.